From Putney To Barcelona

Sonar Screen EMS Documentary 15/06/08

The other VCS4

Sonar Festival Of Electronic Music is to screen a film about EMS entitled 'What the Future Sounded Like'. The 30 minute documentary is directed by Matthew Mate. â€œThe film is in many ways the culmination of my on-going love of electronic music.â€� He said in a recent interview. â€�When I met (producer) Claire Harris and she told me that she knew Tristram Cary and that he lived in Adelaide we thought that he would make a great documentary subject.â€�

Tristram Cary who recently passed away established EMS alongside genius-engineer David Cockerell and computer guru Peter Zinovieff who also appear in the documentary.

â€œResearching and sourcing archive from a great many private and public libraries in Australia, the UK and Germany and from personal collections has been a fascinating voyage of discovery.â€� Said producer Claire Harris. â€œWe hope this film will rekindle an interest in the grandfathers of
electronic music.â€�

'What The Future Sounded Like' will be screened at SonarCinema in Barcelona Thursday 19 June at 06:00pm, Friday 20 June at 12:00am and Saturday 21 June at 03:45pm

A Brief SynopsisIn the early 60s, a group of eccentric pioneering electronic musicians founded EMS (Electronic Music Studios) in London and changed the course of contemporary music forever. In the depths of their sound laboratory, they created music based on technology at a time when existing technology barely allowed such a conceptual leap. This documentary by Matthew Bate uses experimental techniques, animation, audiovisual collages and archival footage seen here for the first time ever.Simon Power